A Latent Class Approach for Analyzing Choice Behavior of Leisure Travelers

In view of the ignorance of heterogeneity in previous studies, latent class analysis theory was introduced to research Chinese leisure travelers' choice behavior. According to the basic theory of latent class analysis, alatent class model of travelers' choice behavior was designed and corresponding fitting method was given.Then, a stated preference survey to leisure travelers was conducted and the survey data was further analyzed. MNL and MMNL models were first established, which indicated the heterogeneity of choice behavior among leisure travelers. Then, latent class analysiswas conducted, through which the leisure passenger transport market was proven consisting of three segmentations. And based on the results, the preference structure and constitution of each segmentation were also clear.